Wage & Hour Issues

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A recent case, Lopez v. Uno Express Cleaners Inc., 18-cv-10737, 2019 WL 6873796 (SDNY Dec. 17, 2019), illustrates how courts evaluate settlement agreements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), as mandated by the Second Circuit’s decision in Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc., 796 F.3d 199 (2d Cir. 2015). In this case, plaintiff, who was…

Read More FLSA Settlement Rejected in Light of Overbroad Release
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In Lenzi v. Systemax, Inc., No. 18-979, 2019 WL 6646630 (2d Cir. Dec. 6, 2019), the court, inter alia, reinstated plaintiff’s claims – dismissed below by summary judgment – of pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In sum, plaintiff alleged that defendants paid her…

Read More 2d Circuit Revives Title VII Pay Discrimination Claim
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In Crawford v. ExlService.com, LLC, 2019 WL 5887214 (SDNY Nov. 12, 2019), the court, inter alia, denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on plaintiff’s federal Equal Pay Act (29 U.S.C. § 206(d)) and New York State Equal Pay Act (N.Y. Labor Law § 194) claims. The court explained: As a threshold matter, the parties’ submissions reveal fact…

Read More Federal and NY State Equal Pay Act Claims Survive Summary Judgment; Jury to Decide Equivalence of Work Functions
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In Vega v. CM & Assoc. Constr. Mgt., LLC, 2019 NY Slip Op 06459 (App. Div. 1st Dept. Sept. 10, 2019), the court affirmed the denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s claims brought under the New York Labor Law. Here, plaintiff alleges that she was employed by defendant as a manual laborer, and during…

Read More NY Labor Law Wage Violation Not Cured by Late Payment, Court Holds
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In a particularly disturbing development, it is reported that a plaintiff in a wage-and-hour FLSA lawsuit – plaintiff Xue Hui Zhang, suing his former employer, Albany restaurant Ichiban, for $200,000 in back wages – was detained by Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a deposition. As indicated in the above-linked news article (dated August…

Read More FLSA Plaintiff Detained by ICE During Deposition
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In Nana v. Le Viking LLC d/b/a Bistro Chez Lucienne, 17-CV-928, 2019 WL 3244181 (SDNY July 19, 2019), the court, inter alia, held that plaintiff was entitled to $5,000 in emotional  distress damages on his retaliation claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the New York Labor Law. The court noted that “[a]lthough the…

Read More Emotional Distress Damages of $5,000 Awarded in Wage Retaliation Case
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In Lord v. Marilyn Model Mgt., Inc., 2019 NY Slip Op 05093 (App. Div. 1st Dept. June 25, 2019), the court reversed the lower court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s claim for breach of contract arising from defendant’s failure to pay him severance. The facts, as summarized by the court: As alleged in the complaint, plaintiff was…

Read More Modeling Scout Sufficiently Alleges Claims Relating to Failure to Pay Severance, First Department Holds
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In a recently-filed lawsuit, captioned Kelly Cahill et al v. Nike, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Index No. 18-cv-01477, filed August 9, 2018), the plaintiffs (individually and on behalf of others similarly situated) allege gender discrimination under the federal Equal Pay Act, 29 U.S.C. § 206(d) and related state laws (the…

Read More Just Sue It: Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Nike
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Celebrities – they’re just like us! That is one take-away from a recent Eastern District of New York decision, Jones v. Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., a/k/a Busta Rhymes et al, 16-cv-2194, 2018 WL 2227990 (E.D.N.Y. May 14, 2018) (M.J. Levy). There, plaintiff sued Busta Rhymes and Starbus LLC, alleging “that, while employed by defendants as [Busta]’s…

Read More Court Declines to Adopt “Celebrity Exception” to Public Access to Settlement Agreement in Age Discrimination, Wage Lawsuit Against Busta Rhymes
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